


Still waters

by Nosferotica



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Fluff, He's also stressed out, Hurt/Comfort, I mean it's very heavily implied, Implied Sexual Content, Kind of a character study into some of the folks on the Tempest, M/M, One Shot, Scott is only like 22 leave him alone, a bit of angst, kinda??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-25 21:40:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18171791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nosferotica/pseuds/Nosferotica
Summary: Scott Ryder and those who care for him





	Still waters

Scott tossed and turned in the way too big a bed that he had been provided with on the Tempest. It was a bit past two in the morning and even if stuff like that mattered little in space he should really sleep already. Meetings with Tann were already an exercise in patience, and he really hated the idea of talking to the guy when he was tired.

He would obviously never admit to it out loud but Scott was terrified. Not like the time he and Sara had been caught it the crossfire of a deal gone wrong between some mercenaries, nor like the time they had pissed off a krogan while taking shots of something they definitely weren’t old enough for. Those times Sara had been with him, shielding him behind her back or patching him up afterwards. It had been like that since forever; he could still recall in accurate detail the time when he had come home, bruised and beaten but refusing to tell anyone what had happened. Sara had sized him up quietly while their mother fussed with him and then slipped out the door when she wasn’t paying attention. Later when Scott was playing in his room she had come back with her knuckles bloodied and raw, eyes fierce. He didn’t ask her what had happened, nor did she tell him. Instead, they sat in the artificial sunlight of the Citadel, eating raspberries he’d stolen from the small gardens that some wealthy inhabitants of the station kept as a hobby.

They had of course grown up eventually, and he was now able to throw his own punches. But she had still been there, looking out for him quietly, having his back when the going got tough. Now he was on his own, scared to the core, thousands of lives depending on his success. That wasn’t strictly true; his crew was capable enough and whenever the anxiety and loneliness crept in SAM would remind him in the silence of his own mind that he was doing well and that Sara would most likely wake up soon. Still, he felt restless and worried and so very alone.

\---

Lexi eyed the esteemed pathfinder carefully over her datapad. She noted a few new scars that stretched over his ribs in an undoubtedly painful way when he moved, even if he showed no discomfort to the outside world. His vitals were about the same as during the last check, blood pressure a bit too high. Still, no lingering radiation damage from his last trip to Eos, no run-ins with kett and no conspicuous marks after a night on Kadara either. She should count herself lucky.

“Can I go? Or are you going to stare at me some more?” Scott said, already pulling his shirt over his head, huffing in frustration when he noticed that it was inside out. Lexi turned around to hide the fond smile tugging at her lips, placing the datapad on one of the beds. Maybe she could convince him to take some more time off on the ship. Better not, work seemed to keep his mind off of the harder things.

“Yes. Get more sleep and take some snacks with you next time you go on a mission. Your blood sugar levels are on the low every time you come back.”

“Yes, mom.” She turned just in time to see sadness slowly seeping into his smile as he realized what he had just said. She wanted to say something more, but she knew no cures for this kind of hurt, no words that could fix this. Scott left the med bay, posture relaxed and face back to normal, cheerily greeting Liam on his way to the crew quarters. Lexi was left standing in the middle of the room with a slight prickling in her eyes. Strange how much older she suddenly felt; 275 years were nothing to an asari but dealing with Scott had her feeling like a matriarch.

\---

Vetra watched Scott from the corner of her eye as he ramped the Nomad off yet another rock. He seemed at ease, eyes crinkling at the corners as he made sharp turn, sand and rocks hitting the side of the vehicle. Cora looked less pleased with him, face calm but gripping her seat so hard Vetra feared that it would break. She wasn’t exactly ecstatic about the driving either but seeing Scott enjoy himself for once was nice. She could tell his burden bothered him. It made him a great leader; empathetic, self-aware and cautious but willing to put himself at risk for his people. She had worked with a lot of bad bosses, people who made up for what they lacked in fire-power or genitalia size with an ego the size of a small galaxy, like that guy Calot who abducted Liam’s friend. Here was a man who people followed, not for the money but for the adventure and the vision. He could afford to be soft around them because he knew that they had his back as well. Even Cora, who was still bitter about not being the pathfinder, and Drack, who had initially seen him as little more than another hopeless human, were willing to put their lives on the line for him. So Scott was fine by her, she could even cautiously call him a friend. He had helped her and Sid a few times more than necessary, and he took a genuine interest in their lives.

Scott pulled another dangerous turn and was just about to hit a boulder when Vetra reached over and pulled at the steering wheel just enough so that the Nomad’s side gently scraped up against the hard surface of the rock, gracefully slipping past it.

“I had it, you know.”

“Sure you did, Scott.”

\---

By the time they were finished night had descended on Kadara. Reyes was sitting in his bed looking out of the window of his small haunt, eyeing the way the lights from the port danced on the slowly clearing pools of toxic water. He could distantly hear the sounds of shouting beyond the slums, accompanied by gunshots. He’d sort that out later. Right now he was more concerned with the warm body curled up in his sheets, and frankly taking up way more space than necessary.

Scott was splayed out obscenely in his bed, looking much like an underwear model, minus the underwear, or one of those bots that would sometimes send him messages on some of the less than wholesome extranet sites back in the Milky Way. Reyes must have been deeper in this then he had initially thought because instead of drinking it all in like a man dying of thirst he found himself eyeing his face in worry. He knew for certain that Scott could hold his own, he had seen it firsthand. Tonight however there was something about the way the light hit his long lashes and soft lips that made Reyes’ heart ache something fierce. He looked so terribly young and vulnerable, as if he would turn to dust if he so much as touched him. Defying this irrational fear Reyes reached out to grasp at the blanket to pull it over the pathfinders body properly but stopped when a hand reached out, grasping at him blindly. Scott opened his eyes, hazy from sleep but still too bright, as if he could cry any minute.

Reyes frowned and let go of the blanket in favor of brushing some stray hairs off of Scott’s forehead.

“Bad dream?” He whispered quietly. The words felt strange in his mouth, much more sentimental than he was used to. He hated admitting it but Zia had been right this once; he really did like this one. Way too much.

Scott only nodded in response and wrapped himself around Reyes’ body.

“Want to talk about it?”

Scott frowned and shook his head, then rocked himself up against his him, closing his eyes and throwing his head back to really make sure he got the hint. Reyes relented, carefully pulling the pathfinder closer and murmuring dirty things into his ear while running his hands all over his tender body in a way that had him shivering and twitching like a leaf in the wind. It wouldn’t solve anything in the long run, but for now it would do. It had to.

  


**Author's Note:**

> Hey gang, you have no idea how weird it is to write Mass Effect stuff after writing Star Trek. Like there are similar things but they have different names and whatever. Anyway, I used that freckles preset when making my Scott and he ended up looking all young and lost and I was like "I could work with that".


End file.
